Musical instrument.



PATBNTEJ) DEC. 25, 1906.

J. MoTA'MMANY.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED NOV.18. 1898.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTU R: fizz/444W, J

PATEN'I'ED DEC. 25, 1906.

J. .MOTAMMANY- MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1898".

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENPTUR;

w/ 7 WW6$ WITNEESEEI No. 839,183. PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906.

J. MoTAMMANY.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED HOV,1B, 1898.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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1% Z./ 5 My 7;? l I v e PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906.

J; MGTAMMANY. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 18. 1898.

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WITNESSES xx/$0M No. 839,183. PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906. J. MoTAMMANY.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLiOATION FILED NOV. 1a. 1898.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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Q "FEEL m WITNESSES: 'INVi ZNTEIRI W wzw y/ W? PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906.

J. MOTA MMANY. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18. 189B.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

INV NTU #4 w/ UNITED STATES PrkTENT OFFICE.

JOHN MQTAMMANY; F; WORCESTER; MASSACHUSETTS.

MUSICAL. INSTRUMENT,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.- 25, 1906.

Application filed November 18, 1898. Serial No. 696,756.

To all 'whmrb'zlt may concern: I Be it known that I, JOHN MCTAMMANY,Of

Worcester, in the'county of Worcester and- State'ofMassachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Musical Instruments, ofwhic'h the following is a specification.

This invention-has relation to automatic musical instruments of the class wherein the tone-producers are controlled by a selector through the medium of any suitable actuating devices, and more particularly to that class'of instruments wherein two ormore differentkinds of tone-producers are utilized for producing harmonious musical effects.

' The invention has for its object to provide 'animproved musical instrument of the class named whereby a greater variety of tone- '-producers can be used,.finer eifects canbe produced, and 'musical' compositions of a "higher grade'of excellence can be performed than-heretofore.

" "Itconsists of'. an instrument posessing cer:

tain' features of construction and arrangeportion of the instrument onthe line 3 3 of .Fig. 1 and shows the three sound-producersmentof. parts, all as illustrated upon the drawings; and now'to be described in detail,

andflfinally pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

. Reference is'tp be had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters formingapart of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur. 1

'Of the drawings, Figure *1 represents in front elevation a musical instrument embodying my invention. Fig. 2 representsa side elevation ofthe same and, the lower portion of the instrument being shown in section for the'purpose ofjillustrating the bellows.-

Fig; 3 represents a section through the upper which I have elected to employ and their actuating mechanism. Fig-. 4 represents'a tran-' '45.

verse horizontal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig; 5 represents a horizontal section online of Fig. 3. This section is taken on-two different planes through the channel-board. Fig. 6 represents avertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3 and illustrates the musical comb. Fig. 7 .re

resents a vertical section on the line 7 ,7 o Fig.1'3 and illustrates the mechanism for controlling the windinstruments or flutes which: are located in the upper partof the casing. Fig. Sreprese'nts in detail andin 1m, and a flute.

marked thereon,

; employ in lieu of them a set of reeds arranged to produce a"string tone-and a comb having its tongues constructed and arranged to give forth sounds resembling those .produced by the strings of a-harp. This I have done, as the strings of stringed instruments are liable to stretch and breakand require constant tuning to keep them in order, and as this instrument is designed to be employed either for the house or in connection with nickel in the slot mechanism such,

.stretching, breaking, and tuning of the strings would be a serious objection.

I have elected to show the invention in its simplest form, and accordingly the reeds, the comb, and the flutes are sounded in unison; but it will be understood that substantially the same mechanism and apparatus may be employed to preserve the individuality of each instrument in concerted compositions. Of course the selector would necessarily haveto belarranged to cause the actuation of the instruments separately; but this would he the work of a mechanic and could be readily ac- .complished in View of the apparatus now to be explained.

' In its general appearance the casing which incloses the instruments and their controllers and the pneumatic devices for operating the controllers consists of three parts of different sizes, (indicated at A, B, and C.) The lower portion A forms astand for the box-shaped portion B, upon which rests the upper portion C ,When viewed in side elevation, the three portions of the casing look like boxes piled.

one above the other and graduated from large to small. The lower section A ofthe casn'g 1n closes the suction-bellows a and the. reservoirs a connected therewith and the pedals a? (1 which actuate the bellows. The pedals are connected by straps a with disks a, attached toa transverse shaft a, journal od in bearings in the end walls of the lower portion A of the casing, said straps being secured at their ends to the movable boards of the bellows. The

reservoirs a communicate with the rear wind "chest 17, formed in the top of the lower section 1 to 1), separated from that at b by a partition b which communicates with theinterior of two pressure-bellows c 0, located above the witid- .and the valve, e 1s raised an Wlll be rawn chests b b, the movable boards of said bellows c a being connected by straps c c with disks 0 0 secured to the rock-'shaft'w. 7 Between the bellows c 0 there is areservoir -03, which communicates with the wind-chest b, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. 4 The bellows a. a. operate to withdraw. the air by suction from the wind-chest 6, whilethe bellows c c force air under pressure into the wind-chest b for a purpose to be explained in detail. I

A platform d is supported by end standards d" onthe top of the wind-chest b and-covers the bellows c c and the reservoirs c and it is upon this platform that the upper portionsB C of the casings rest. The frame B incloses the reeds, the pneumatic actuators therefor,

while the "frame G contains the controllers for the flute, and the pickers for the comb. There is formed insaid frame B two separate com,- partments e 6, one above the other, and the atter e (which is a wind-chest) communicating by a trunk c with the suction wind-chest b. The partition a between. the com-partments 1; e" is relatively thick, being-formed, as shown, in three layers, and throughsaid partition extend-a plurality of aperturesor duets 6, arranged as shown in dotted lines in-Fi-g. 4,

said ducts having relatively small ports e c",

, the lower ports- Wbeing normally closed by the valves e which are adapted, however, to close the ports e when-- they are raised.

platform= d is" in reality a channel'- boa'rdhaving a series'of parallelw-indchannels orducts. d ,-which extend to' the frontedgethereofand are adapted to be normally closed by a selector as, shown in Fig.- Thi's selectormay consist oi an elongated striporsheet of suitable m'aterial, such-as paper or sheet metal, adaptedto be-unwound' em a roll f by a Windin -roll f driven by means to-be described. This selector is pro= vikied with apertures adapted 'to registerwiththe channels (1 intermittingly go eausethe productionof tones by 'the sounding instrirments. Each channel d ends ina'circu lar chamberor-recess d in the upper-faceof the channel-board, (see Fig. 5,) across-which phrag'mrests the lower end 0 the valvemouth of one of the ducts (Z thediaphragm at theend of the duct is raised by atmosphericpressure and the valve 6 is raised=- -to open the port c iamlclose theiport "6 duet e communicates by'a with a pneumatic actuator g, located in esteem pertinent e."- These ""actuat'ors" or finebehind the-rollf j,"intermeshing with and driving a I shall not describe the wind-motor, as it per 89- forms notors, as I may term them, are small bellows, andthey are arranged in four rows, two in v the front and two'iinthe rear of the windchest e, so that whenever a ductd is o e'ned from the corresponding. pneumatic motor 9 through a duct g. To the movable portion of each pneumatic actuator or motoris secured a finger 9 u on which rests va verti-' cally-arranged trac er 9 passed through suitable guides g? gtthroughthe upper wall" of the compartment 6 into a small wmd-chest,

h, which communicates by atrunk 7;, with the wind-chest b.

U on the top of the wind-chest the out edge'thereof are arranged reeds k of which three banks are shown in Fig. 3. There is a valve or pallet k for each reed, and it is, connected with a lever 72 centrally fulcr'nmed in a depending lug k and resting at its rear end upon one of the trackers 9 Hence when one of the ducts d is opened and its corresponding neurnatic motoror" actuatorg" is operated t e latter will" lift a tracker g andswinging a lever h upon its fulcrum will withdraw the valve of one of the reeds and h and near permit said reed to sound as long as the duct or channel d is opened, and hence almost any musical composition or work ,canbeproduced by the reeds.

The selector whic-hl have previously referred toas being wound upona roll f 2 is moved automatically by a suitable windmotor (indicated more or less conventionally at 'y') andconnected b-ya trunk or tube j with the: tube e g leadingto the windchest-*B-.

Said-motor rotates a crank-shaftj, having thereupon a pulley 1, connected by a belt 7' witha pulley j upon a'shaf't i lo'eat'ed' 'just On the shaft 7' isap'inion ear- Wheel fy'l' onthe winding-roll'f part of the present invention, and any motor,

whether pneumatic,- electrical', or s ring Next referring to. t e top portion 6' of the casing and the parts therein contained, it

Iwillbe-seen that the lower portion of the irameCiS secureclamusicalc b'k,*having a series of'tongues 7c, andbeiow each tongue is an actuator or picker consistingof a longitudina1ly'- movable bar or strip k having a tongue-engaging tooth' k and a damper k. :In front-of the combs is atoothed or fluted roll k which is driven by a belt- ]r; passing arounda pulley 10 secured to i-a trunnion is,

projectingout from the roll and-around; a

pulleyk" on the crank-shaft Each picker trests" upon-guides m m and-is provided with a tooth 7& upwardly extending andunder thefluted or' toothed roll 76'. The front end ot' each picker rests-upon a rod or tracker" ,7, supported m ides-m one in and oneaabove thewind-e est h'. Each tracker mestswhich are normally closed by controllersor' cranks resets the pickers k upon the end of one of the levers h and'is; pressed downwardly by a springn. When one of the levers h is' swung about its ful-v crum and its rear end lifted, it raises one of the trackers 7i and l fts the picker thereon up into proxiniityto the roll E, and the latter engaging the tooth 7 cmoves the picker for-., ward andcauses the tooth k to impinge upon its immediately-adjacent tongue lc to cause the latter to sound. As soon as the tooth k impinges upon the tongue to cause it to vi-' rate and the trackern is dropped the picker is carried backward by a device to be dee' scribed, and the damper k 'engages the tongue- The flutes, of which there are two in munher, as shown, although more or less may be used, are arranged above the comb'and are indicated at 0 0, one being directly above the other; The closed ends of the flutes project 1 out of the casing C and are connected by tubes o 'with the pressure wind-chest b, so that when the holes in the flutes .are opened the latter are caused to sound. I speak of these instruments as flutes; but it will be understood that I may-employ fifes, flagiolets, pic colos, clarionets, and other forms of. Wind instruments. i

Each flute has a series of finger holes' 0 0 keys 0. Two flutes are so arranged that substantially half of the notes or tones are produced by-one and the balance by the other. Each controller or key 0 is on the lower end of a rod or wire 0 movable in guides 0 and is adapted to be raised by an arm 0 extending out from a rock-shaft 0 and ending under a collar 0 on said wire... p

The rock-shafts 0 are arranged one above the other, there being two sets of them, one set for each flute. These 'rock-shaftshave their ends journaled i n the end; walls of the casing C, and each is provided with a short arm 0, resting upon or connected to a tracker-rod o movable in guides-o, and, having its lower end resting'upon or connected to the horizontal arm 1) of the bell-crank lever 5', fulcrumed at p and havin its substantially vertical arm p connected by a pin and-sloaconnection with one of the pickers 76 The weight of the trackers and the bell- I have employed the terms horizontal and vertical in 'describingthe arms of the bell-cranks and various other parts of the in-- strument; but it will be understood that I use them merely to aid in the description of thepartic'ular instrument whichis shown and that I do not intend .to limit myself inany way by them, as the various elements in the combination and the various parts of-the instrument may be arranged inany other way as desired. I 1

As the flute tones in the instrument shown on the drawingslii'r'eall above the middle reg 'vention and described a and using the same, though without having 4. rality of'musical tongues; a" plurality of pickrotary ,toothed roll tooth on each of the pickers; automatic actu-- and vibrate the sai isteror middle C, only the pickersfor the ector is passingin,

front of the channel-b oard the flutes, the musical 'con1b,and the reeds -areall sounded in ac, cordance with. a preconceived plan or arrange ment, all being controlled by pneumatic devices WhOSB action is regulated by theselector. -As -sho'w n, the instrument is operated through manualeii'ort; but Where it is de signed to be employed in connection with a nickle-in-the-slot device I- contemplate the actuating the bellows.

, will be understood that the various im- .8 o employment of some other form of motor for i proved features of my invention may be e1n- .ployed. separately or in other combinations and that various changes in the construction and arrangement shown may be madewith out departing from the spirit andscope of my invention.

Having thus explained the nature of the in'' attempted to set forth all of the forms in which it maybe made or all of the modes of its use, I declare that what- I claim is- I 1 An. automatic musical instrument com prising a plurality of musical tongues, a wind instrument sounded by a-blast of air, a selector andmean's governed thereby for varying the tones of said instrument, and means independent of the selector for causing the sounding o-f'said tongues and said wind instrument. I v

2. An automatic musical instrument comprising a comb having musical tongues; pick-f ers therefor, each; picker being a single looselysupported strip,v a continuously-rotating toothed roll adapted to operate the pickers,

and pneumatic actuators for. automaticall thrusting said pickers into engagement with said roll.

3. In'combination, a comh having a plurality of musical tongues; a plurality'of pickers, each consisting of a bar or strip having a tongue-engaging projection,'and a tooth,- a rotary toothed roll ada ted .toenga gethev tooth'on each of the pic ers; "and automatic engage and vibrate the said tongues;

In combination, acomb having a luers, each consisting of a bar or strip having a tongue-engaging proj cation, and a tooth; a adapted to engage the returningsaid pickers to inoperative position. Y

99 way of constructing i ioo automatically actuators for moving-the pickers into engagement with the roll whereby their projections comb having its tongue projecting downward, 8: .hualzity ofpiekers air-ranged below 1 5; In combination. a vertically-arranged I with the roll and the tongues whereby said I roll causes saidpiekers tovibrateseid tongues. 1 o In testimony whereof I have affixed my sigsfiideom in a plane intersecting that of the 1 nature in presence of two Witnesses. tongues, whereby said. pickers remain nor- JOHN MCTAMMANY.

'meLHY out oi contact with the tongues, a ro- I Witnesses: tarytas'lthed roll ahdvethe pickers, and aetu- C. C. ST OHER, H. L.

atorssfenlifting the pickers mto engagement ROBBINS. 

